When you are the leader in anything (even on Dancing with the Stars!) there is only one way to go – down. And there are always many happily waiting to take you top spot. America is the world leader and there are many ‘vultures’ who want us to slip so that they can be the world leader – number one. As the lyricist Des’ree said, “You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger, you gotta be calm and you gotta stay together!”

America – we MUST stay together. We MUST unite or divided we will all fall. The rest of the world is uniting against us. Wake up! Unite!!! Did you hear or read the news report on Thursday that Russia is helping to build a nuclear power station?! Read the following articles for details:

Most Americans want what’s good for America – we just have different ways we believe we should go about making America successful. What we seem to forget is that there are more than one way to skin a cat, a deer or a gator.

If we continue to fight amongst ourselves as we are doing now, NONE of us will benefit. Right now we are like a nation at a four way traffic intersection and we all moved at the same time. We are all in the middle of the intersection and no one wants to back up so we are all stuck. And everyone behind us is stuck and we’re backed up for miles without a solution in sight.

The top 10% of America has 90% of our wealth. That 10% is receiving tax breaks from our government so that they will create good jobs in America and put us back to work. But that’s not what they are doing. They are taking the tax breaks and shipping tens of thousands of good paying jobs overseas. This means that the top 10% are getting our tax monies from the government and they are getting more money by shipping our jobs abroad and saving millions. Why do the 10% wealthiest get to have their billion dollar cake and eat it too? Why aren’t we screaming at them?

We have to look at who the real culprits are and rebel against THEM. President Obama is giving these big businesses the tools they need to hire Americans. These businesses have accepted the tools but they refuse to use it to help the middle class Americans they are suppose to help. They are lining their pockets and sitting on their money eggs while we lose our jobs.

America we have to unite against big business and we have to unite as a country before we drop from number one to number three or four.

We have to be smart citizen politicians. We have to make decisions that help us; not the 10%. We have to realize that the only way to rebuild America is for all of us to work together and get America out of the hole we’re in. When we’re out of the hole we can debate our doctrines and personal preferences.

If we do not remain united, foreign powers will have a real opportunity to slip in and take bits and pieces of our country and businesses until they own America. Is that what we want to happen?

We can only point the fingers at ourselves if this great country collapses.

This is not the time to snicker, bicker and point fingers. Know is the time to set America right so we can continue to live in this great country as Americans and not become foreigners in our country.

So, what are you going to do? Are you going to vote and unite America on November 2, 2010 and continue the work already started so we can all get jobs again? Or are you going to vote to further divide the country and we will all fall?

United we stand. Divided we fall.

What are you going to do?

If America fails, which country do you want to rule America? Which new language do you want to have to learn to speak? Chinese, Russian, French?

President Barack Obama is fired up!!!On Thursday he said that “the scale and the scope” of his economic plan is right, turning up the heat on critics he said were hawking “phony arguments” and “false theories of the past” to chip away at the bill’s programs.

“Don’t come to the table with the same tired arguments and worn ideas that helped to create this crisis,” the president said at the House Democrats’ annual retreat in Williamsburg.

“We’re not going to get relief by turning back to the very same policies that, for the last eight years, doubled the national debt and threw our economy into a tailspin,” he said. “We can’t embrace the losing formula that says only tax cuts will work for every problem we face, that ignores critical challenges like our addiction to foreign oil, or the soaring cost of health care, or failing schools and crumbling bridges and roads and levees.”

“I don’t care whether you’re driving a hybrid or an SUV — if you’re headed for a cliff, you’ve got to change direction.”

President Obama said he valued “the constructive criticism and healthy debate that’s taking place around this package,” but added that speedy passage of the bill was essential.

“We’re not moving quickly because we’re trying to jam something down people’s throats,” he said. “We’re moving quickly because if we don’t, the economy’s going to keep getting worse.”

Obama rejected calls for more tax cuts and significant slashing of the bill’s more than $800 billion price tag, and said complaints the package was a spending bill rather than a stimulus bill were off base.

“What do you think a stimulus bill is?” he said. “That’s the point.”

To critics who argue that the government shouldn’t be spending billions with a large and growing deficit, Obama said, “I found this national debt doubled, wrapped in a big bow waiting for me as I stepped into the Oval Office.”

The American people called for change in November, he said, “and that’s what we’re going to deliver.”

“They did not send us here to get bogged down with the same old delay, the same old distractions, the same talking points, the same cable chatter,” he said. “They did not vote for the false theories of the past, and they didn’t vote for phony arguments and petty politics, and they did not vote for the status quo.”

Obama told his fellow Democrats that they have “the capacity to do great things” on behalf of the American people, “but we are going to have to do it by not thinking about ourselves.”

“It starts with this economic recovery plan, and soon, we will take on big issues like addressing the foreclosure problem, passing a budget, tackling our fiscal problems, fixing our financial regulation and securing our country.”

“If we do not move swiftly to sign [the act] into law, an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe,” he said. “This is not my assessment. This is not Nancy Pelosi’s assessment. This is the assessment of the best economists in the country. This is the assessment of some of the former advisers of some of the same folks who are making these criticisms right now.”

“This is not a game,” he said. “This is not a contest for who’s in power and who’s up and who’s down.”

“It’s time to set aside the gamesmanship in this town and get something done.”

California is America’s most populous state and it might be on the verge of a financial collapse.If this is happening in California, how long will it be before this same type of financial monsoon slams into your state?

More than 200,000 state government employees are expected to stay home without pay today as California began it’s first-ever furlough (involuntary unpaid leave of absence), a move intended to save money during the ongoing fiscal crisis.

State agencies scrambled in the days before the furloughs took effect to avoid confusion for the public, such as people trying to register vehicles, getting drivers license or trying obtain professional licenses or city permits.

Among the offices to be closed Friday are those of the Department of Motor Vehicles and Department of Consumer Affairs. The governor’s Office of Emergency Services also would be dark as part of a cash-saving move ordered by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger ordered the two-day-a-month furloughs, reducing the average state worker’s salary by 9.2 percent, as he and lawmakers try to solve the state’s $42 billion budget shortfall.

The governor had hoped his order would apply to some 238,000 state employees, but each of the seven other constitutional officers have said they will not comply. Employees of the Legislature are not under his authority.

Schwarzenegger’s legal affairs secretary, Andrea Hoch, said the administration was prepared to sue the state controller if he did not reduce paychecks for more than 15,000 workers in the other constitutional offices, which include the attorney general, secretary of state and insurance commissioner.

A judge who affirmed Schwarzenegger’s authority to order the furloughs said his ruling did not apply to statewide elected officials because they were not a party to the lawsuit. The administration has maintained that employees of constitutional offices are covered by the furlough order.

Doors to about 180 DMV offices were to be locked Friday. Some people said the state gave little notice to the public about the furloughs, which will continue on the first and third Fridays of each month through June 2010.

“They don’t have any signs telling us about Friday,” said Ingrid Dela Cruz of Sacramento, who was inside a Sacramento DMV office on Thursday.

In fact, there were plenty of signs, but they were posted in locations invisible to most customers because they were hidden behind sliding glass doors.

Schwarzenegger’s administration estimated that cutting worker hours would save the state $1.3 billion over the next year-and-a-half.

The state decided to keep some 250 career centers open after previously announcing they would be closed. The centers are where the unemployed get information about job training and benefits.

Dan Gurule, a police officer at the state mental hospital in Norwalk, said the state would have to pay overtime at 24-hour facilities to those workers who backfill the shifts of people on furlough. Five state mental hospitals and 33 adult prisons are required to provide constant care to patients and inmates.

“Somebody has to fill in my position,” Gurule said. “We still have to have a minimum staffing. That’s going to be someone on overtime, being paid time-and-a-half.”

California is not the only state on the brink of a financial disaster. The state of Florida still has a balanced budget — for the time being — but barely.Governor Charlie Crist has acknowledged that “this economy is struggling greatly.” He has co-signed a letter with Governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, a Democrat, supporting Obama’s stimulus package and encouraging all governors to do the same. “If President Obama sees a need for Republican assistance with his stimulus plan, I’m happy to do that,” said Crist.

He sees in Obama and his recovery plan “lifelines of hope to persevere.” “There is a level of optimism that is not detached from reality. … I see the glass as half-full —and not without reason. … My optimism does relate to the stimulus plan.”

Many Governors and Mayors support President Obama’s Stimulus Plan since they are on the front lines and see the crises up close and personal on a daily basis.

Governors and Mayors do not want to see police precincts and fire stations closed.Nor do they want to see thousands upon thousands of teachers losing their jobs which will cause classroom sizes to increase or schools to close.

Governors and Mayors do not want to see the millions of unemployed Americans lose their unemployment insurance and lose the ability to pay for food, utilities, rent/mortgage, taxes, car loans and the necessities of life.

I urge you to contact your Senators and Congresspersons from both Houses and encourage them to get together, make the necessary revisions and get this stimulus plan passed for the greater good of all Americans!

The White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President.The Chief of Staff is often nicknamed ‘The Second Most Powerful Man in Washington’ because of the influence and access to the President.

“I announce this appointment first because the chief of staff is central to the ability of a President and administration to accomplish an agenda,” President-Elect Obama said in a statement. “And no one I know is better at getting things done than Rahm Emanuel.”

Traditionally the Chief of Staff has been responsible for overseeing the actions of the White House staff, managing the President’s schedule and deciding who is allowed to meet with the President.Because of these duties, the Chief of Staff has at various times been called ‘The Gatekeeper’ and ‘The Co-President’.

Most White House Chiefs of Staff are former politicians and many continue their political careers in other senior roles once they leave the White House.Gerald Ford’s Chief of Staff was Dick Cheney.Cheney became US Representative for Wyoming, then Secretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush and Vice President under George W. Bush.

The roles of the Chief of Staff are both managerial and advisory and can include the following duties depending on President Obama’s vision and style of conducting business:

·Select key White House staff and supervise them

·Structure the White House staff system

·Control the flow of people into the Oval Office

·Manage the flow of information to the POTUS

·Advise the President on issues, politics and policies and management issues

·Protect the interest of the President

·Negotiate with Congress and other members of the Executive Branch and other governmental political groups to implement the President’s agenda

Rahm Israel Emanuel, President-Elect Obama’s choice for Chief of Staff was born in Chicago, Illinois.His first name Rahm means ‘high’ or ‘lofty’ in Hebrew and his last name, Emanuel, means ‘God is with us.’

Rahm’s last name was adopted by his family in 1933 after Rahm’s paternal uncle Emanuel Auerbach was killed in a skirmish with Arabs in Jerusalem.

Rahm’s father, Benjamin Emanuel was born in Jerusalem.He is a pediatrician and former member of the Irgun – a staunchly nationalist Zionist militia active in the British Mandate of Palestine between 1931 and 1948.His mother, the former Martha Smulevitz, worked as an x-ray technician and was the daughter of a local union organizer.She became a civil rights activist and was also the owner of a Chicago- area rock and roll club.

Rahm attended Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School – a Jewish day school.After his family moved to Wilmette he attended public schools: Romona School, Wilmette Junior High School and New Trier West High School.He and his brothers attended summer camp in Israel. During high school while working at an Arby’s Emanuel severely injured his right middle finger.Instead of getting medical treatment he went swimming in Lake Michigan.His finger became severely infected and was partially amputated.

Rahm graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1981 and received a Masters in Speech and Communication from Northwestern University in 1985. While an undergraduate he joined the congressional campaign of David Robinson, Chicago.

Emanuel was a civilian volunteer in the Israel Defense Forces during the 1991 Persian Gulf War and served in one of Israel’s northern bases.

Amy Rule, Rahm’s wife, is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.Amy converted to Modern Orthodox Judaism shortly before their wedding.They are active members of Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel – a Modern Orthodox congregation in Chicago.They have three children: a son Zachariah and daughters Ilana and Leah.

It’s been revealed that McCain campaign volunteer Ashley Todd made up a story of being robbed, pinned to the ground and having a backward “B” (for Barack) scratched on her face in a politically inspired attack. Are you surprised?

Maurita Bryant, the assistant chief of the police department’s investigations division, says Ashley Todd is being charged with making a false report to police. Bryant says the 20-year-old college student from College Station, Texas, admitted Friday that the story was false.

Todd is white. She told police she was attacked by a 6-foot-4 black man Wednesday night. She claimed she gave the attacker $60 before he pinned her to the ground and scratched the letter “B” on her right cheek.

Bryant says Todd can’t explain why she invented the story but we now know that she used a blunt knife to scratch the “B” onto her face. Very sad.

In most of our opinions Miss Todd needs psychiatrist help.But this was the fear – what fear?The fear these past several weeks that McCain and Palin would push people already on the edge, over the edge because of the hate rantings by themselves and their surrogates at their rallies which create a negative atmosphere and mind-set. The fear has been proven – this was bound to happen.Thank God that Miss Todd decided to mutilate herself and not shoot an innocent person.

McCain, Palin and their team individually and collectively lack judgment – this is the kind of energy they project onto their supporters – this is why Todd fabricated this entire episode – she probably felt that she was helping McCain. I wish Miss Todd and her family healing and health.

To make matters even more bizarre, Thursday night John McCain called Ashley Todd and praised her and thanked her for all she had been through.If McCain had not been so eager to get publicity from calling Ashley Todd, he would have taken the time to have someone in his campaign investigate the story to make sure that they had the facts correct before he called the media in to film him calling Ashley Todd. He should have at least waited for the Police report.

This is the same thing McCain did when selecting Palin as his VP – he did not ‘vet’ Palin.It was revealed last week that the decision to select Palin was an impromptu decision that came after a ½ hour discussion between McCain and Rick Davis his campaign manager about Palin.

McCain and his team consistently show that they are erratic in their decision making processes.McCain does not belong in the White House – he is too irrational and illogical in his thinking and he doesn’t surround himself with intellectual thinkers.

It must be nice to be Sarah Palin.The Associate Press requested copies of emails sent to and from Todd Palin to Alaskan officials.Governor Palin quickly said yes to the request but added a stipulation – cough up $15 million dollars!

Governor Palin’s office said it would take up to six hours of a programmer’s time to assemble the e-mail of just a single state employee, then another two hours for “security” checks, and finally five hours to search the e-mail for whatever word or topic the requestor is seeking. At $73.87 an hour, that’s $960.31 for a single e-mail account. And there are 16,000 full-time state employees.

Governor Palin’s office told the AP that if they send a check for $15,364,960.00 Governor Palin will gladly hand over the First Dude’s emails that showed that his wife gave him access to Alaskan state business that he should not have had access to.

In addition, the governor’s office says it can provide copies of the emails but AFTER November 4 and on paper only, not electronically. Why? Because lawyers need printouts so they can black out, or “redact,” private or exempted information. That task is more difficult because Palin and her senior staff have used government e-mail accounts for some personal correspondence, and personal e-mail accounts for much of their government correspondence. The photocopies of those printouts will be a relative bargain, only 10 cents a page.

Barack Obama won last night’s ‘Town Hall’ unequivocally, clearly, indisputably! It wasn’t even close. McCain looked shaky, uncomfortable and uncertain. Obama seemed fit, energetic and commanded the stage. At times, when McCain moved around he almost looked lost.

In addition McCain did nothing to change the dynamic of the race and change it is what he fervently needed to do. Before the ‘Town Hall’ Team McCain said they were taking the gloves off and would assault Obama on his character – McCain did not even lay a glove on Obama on the character issue – I guess he knows the hate he spews while campaigning is crap.

I am shocked and perplexed that McCain did NOT mention how he would help the middle-class; not even ONCE! He has no plans on how he would help the majority of Ameicans – no plans!!!

McCain was very repetitive – he repeated almost verbatim full sentences about Putin and other issues that he said in the first debate. McCain looked very old last night; he used old lines and tried to use old tricks. Yawn.

When McCain called Obama “that one” he seemed dismissive and it simply looked and sounded bad. McCain came off like a grumpy old curmudgeon.

Obama’s entire demeanor was perfect. He was relaxed but serious, confident without being cocky and detailed enough without delving deep into the abyss of policies. He sat on the stool and looked comfortable, confident and cool.Yup, cool.

McCain in contrast was clumsy and he looked miserable. He said “my friends” waaay too often (22 times) and made weird gestures. McCain had no game.

Obama did well on foreign policy, particularly on an Iraq answer towards the end when he hit McCain firmly on the chin: “Senator McCain, in the last debate and today, again, suggested that I don’t understand. It’s true. There are some things I don’t understand. I don’t understand how we ended up invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, while Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda are setting up base camps and safe havens to train terrorists to attack us. That was Sen. McCain’s judgment and it was the wrong judgment. When Sen. McCain was cheerleading the president to go into Iraq, he suggested it was going to be quick and easy, we’d be greeted as liberators. That was the wrong judgment, and it’s been costly to us.” Ouch!

The second best moment of the debate also came from Obama. McCain walked right smack into Obama’s gloved fist and almost knocked himself out when he talked about “speaking softly” with an ally like Pakistan. Obama responded by saying: “Now, Senator McCain suggests that somehow, you know, I’m green behind the ears and, you know, I’m just spouting off, and he’s somber and responsible.” McCain interjected: “Thank you very much.” Then Obama moved in for the kill: “Senator McCain, this is the guy, who sang, ‘Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran’, who called for the annihilation of North Korea. That I don’t think is an example of ‘speaking softly’. This is the person who, after we had — we hadn’t even finished Afghanistan said, ‘Next up, Baghdad’.”

One thing that especially stood out to me was what happened AFTER the debate. Sometimes what a person chooses not to do is as important as what they do.

Instead of walking toward Obama to shake his hand, McCain instead walked to the audience and started shaking hands with people in the audience – peculiar. I’ve never seen that at the end of a debate before.

Obama started to approach McCain and backed off allowing McCain to continue what he was doing.When Michelle and Cindy came on stage for a few minutes it seemed that McCain had again forgotten how to behave politely especially in public when the eyes of the world was watching him.McCain seemed scornful of Obama and he avoided Obama’s offer of a handshake by instead handing over Cindy to Obama so that Obama shook Cindy’s hand, not John’s.Wow, how discourteous.

The most idiosyncratic thing though was when John and Cindy disappeared out the hall – they were gone; it’s like they vaporized into thin air – they were no where to be found almost immeadiately after the Town Hall ended. Damn, how unmannerly!

The Obamas stayed in the hall and graciously talked with the audience, shook hands and took lots of pictures for about 30 minutes.

John McCain has no diplomacy skills. He’s like a child who pouts because he didn’t get his way. Is this the person we want trekking around the world meeting with America’s friends and enemies to regain America’s status in the world? I think not!

Sometimes what a person doesn’t do is more important and telling than what they do.